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Happy Physical Therapy Month

Along with all the daily hard work with patients and students, last month was busy with letter writing to CMS so we could continue to advocate for our profession and our patients! 

So, in celebration of National Physical Therapy Month, something a little lighter.  Enjoy some fun and interesting facts about physical therapy:

 

  1. Worldwide, there are over 1.5 million physical therapists. 1
  2. Physical therapist assistants celebrated their 50th birthday this year!  The profession graduated its first 15 students in 1969 from schools in Florida and Minnesota.  2
  3. There are currently 250 accredited PT programs and 371 accredited PTA programs with a total of enrolled 47,188 students.  3
  4. The APTA began in 1921 and was originally called the American Women's Physical Therapeutic Association.  This name changed in 1922 to the American Physiotherapy Association and men were then admitted.  The name changed again in the late 1940's to its current name.  The first code of ethics was introduced by the APTA in the 1930s. 4
  5. Did you know that wheelchairs have been used since the 6th century AD?  The first self-propelled wheelchair was invented in 1655 by a clockmaker with paraplegia. 5
  6. September 9th is World Physical Therapy Day and October 12th, 2019 was Global PT Day of Service.   Check out the map here to see all the great work which was done by PTs and PTAs across the globe!  If you have any photos of what you did to celebrate PT Day of Service, please make sure to share to Facebook or send them by email to vpta@vpta.org.

 

Happy Physical Therapy Month!!  Celebrate all the great work you do year-round!

 

References:

  1. World Confederation for Physical Therapy (2016).  WCPT country profile: United States.  Retrieved from https://www.wcpt.org/sites/wcpt.org/files/files/cds/Infographic4-2017.pdf
  2. Wojciechowski, M. (2019).  Celebrating a milestone: 50 years of PTAs.  Retrieved from https://www.apta.org/PTinMotion/2019/2/Feature/Celebrating50Years/
  3. CAPTE (2018).  Welcome to CAPTE: Quick facts.  Retrieved from http://www.capteonline.org/home.aspx
  4. APTA (2017).  APTA history.  Retrieved from https://www.apta.org/History/
  5. Nias, K. (2019).  History of the wheelchair.  Retrieved from https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/history-of-the-wheelchair/

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